December 2019 Seattle-Area Meet

Was that today?

 

Saturday!

 

Is he able to open the lid with the tent on?

 

Not the way he did it, however I was watching another creator using the same type of setup but move the rack back slightly so he could get the front door to open. When I get to that step I am going to see how it goes, but as I use my truck as a DD I need the security of the Diamond back top, plus when going camping/shooting it is a secure storage for my guns/gear. To me the pros out weight the cons. I will take the rack off when not using it.

 

Ok. I was confused because this is what I’ve been doing for 6 months or so.

 

Yeah, keep doing it. She's totally just giving you a good place for it.

 

That's a project I'd be interested in.

 

Dammit I want to go on a freaking snow run sooo bad..... they are always planned on busy days

 

Following for now. This last trip on Sunday to Copper Creek was a shit show, way too many rigs on an icy trail and too many people lacking gear and common sense.

 

Wanna look at going out again on the 15th somewhere?

 

Yeah I might be down for that, trying to get up to Greenwater.

 

I'd try Stampede Pass.

 

Stampede is still good. Windy ridge and greenes pass, less so.

 

I’m down for whatever

 

Our story.... We decided to attempt Stampede to Greenwater. It was rough, almost turned back when we were up top. Got to the pavement (intersection of 7030 and 70) and aired back up. First mistake.

We came up on a pair of pickups with loaded sleds with their flashers on, but no people. There was about an inch of snow, and it was snowing, but it wasn't any slicker than you would expect for an inch of snow on pavement. We went by them at about 5 mph.

That was at https://goo.gl/maps/YDCoXDeyzXJx87HS8

We started downhill and as we came around the corner saw a bunch of rigs parked off to the side, some people in the middle of the road, and a couple of tow trucks pulling cars out of the ditch. It's (according to the tow truck driver, who was probably 70 and redneck AF. Definitely the kind of guy who starts talking and you pay attention to.) about a 12% grade. Snoqualmie maxes out at 5%. By that time we were both 100% unable to stop, even though we were still going slow AF. I ended up going left into a ditch to stop as the pedestrians literally jumped out of the way, and Meaghann went right almost to the edge of a pretty good drop. We then sat there for a few hours waiting for the mess to get cleaned up.

Talk about a shit show.

We got off at Denny Creek at a bit after noon. I got home just after midnight, and Meg made it back to Seattle at almost 1. It was one of those time when chains are absolutely required. You couldn't even walk on that road.

@canopycarl The other day when we were debating chains on the front axle, this is the type of situation I was thinking of. You couldn't steer without chains on the front, and everything was being done at low speed.

 

Jesus, sounds like our day at Copper Creek but worse. Glad you and @TexMeg89 made it home ok.

 

OK man let's loosely plan for Stampede on the 15th.better meet up early, like 8am, bc it's almost a 2 hr drive from Tacoma

 

U wanna join on the 15th?

 

I was actually really embarrassed about it at first, and I really thought hard about telling anyone how badly I'd fucked up. Then I started replaying the sequence yesterday, and it finally struck me that it was not possible to foresee that. I'm reminded that going out in the mountains is actually dangerous. Especially in the winter. Still rewarding, and I'm never gonna stop.

 

Maybe, just maybe I might be able to make it. I still have a small lack of trust in my truck due to its age, so I'm a tad hesitant to drive 2 hrs somewhere, and then offroad it, and then drive it home. All doing so without it breaking.